"This is my father's diary that he kept during the war," Swope says. "He kept it in the states, and he also kept it over overseas, which you weren't supposed to do, but he did keep this."

Swope's father was a U.S. Army infantryman who served overseas in France during World War II. He was a prisoner of war for five months, including four months in a labor camp in Czechoslovakia. Swope, a Mentor resident, enjoyed hearing his father's World War II stories throughout the years.

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"Probably 30-some years ago, I had encouraged him to record his memories of the war," Swope said of his father. "He said, 'You know, maybe someday with your experience you could turn this into a radio show.' He said this back in 1978."

Though he did not think about the idea seriously for many years, Swope eventually reconsidered.

"I kind of jumped in realizing that if I interviewed a lot of these guys, a lot of the WWII veterans, there could be a lot of interesting stories that would make a series of radio shows," he said.

He convinced his then-boss at WBKC-AM 1460 in Painesville that it might make a good show, and on July 4, 2001, the first episode of "LEGACIES: Stories from the Second World War" was aired.

"LEGACIES" has since made the jump to WELW-AM 1330 in Eastlake. The show has been aired at 9:30 a.m. Sundays since 2004. Swope's family connection to World War II as well as his extensive experience in radio motivated him to begin recording oral histories of veterans.

"Up until I really threw myself into this, I was mostly a disc jockey," Swope said.

During his almost 40 years in radio, he has had experience working on music and oldies shows as well as a comedy show.

"I lived in Boulder, Colo., and did a radio comedy show that ended up getting nationally syndicated," he added.

Additionally, he spent nine years in Los Angeles doing some television writing, but eventually came back to radio.

Over the years, Swope has interviewed more than 400 veterans. He relies mainly on news stories and word-of-mouth to make contact with veterans. Usually veterans will contact him, and Swope will set up a time to meet with the veteran in his or her home to record the stories.

Once the stories have been recorded, Swope edits them to create a show.

"With the radio show, I have a recording of a 30-minute version of the show, including songs," he said.

"I'm the narrator, so I try to say little transitional things between their stories, but most of what you hear on the radio show, the overwhelming majority, will be the words of the veterans," Swope explained.

Nine years after his first show aired, Swope has written a book chronicling these men and women's experiences. Interviewees gave him the idea.

"When they found out how many people I had interviewed ... they'd say, wow, are you going to do a book?" Swope said. At first, he was hesitant about the idea.

"I always thought I didn't want to write a book because I want this to be in the words of the veterans," he said.

Then he had another idea that changed his mind.

"Finally, it kind of hit me last year: The best way to do this would be to basically do transcripts of the radio shows with some rewriting," Swope said.

Volunteers for The Library of Congress have transcribed Swope's interviews over the years as part of the Veterans History Project.

"The fortunate part was, since I had all the scripts for the radio shows, you know, when I actually sat down to write the book, I could use a lot of these scripts," Swope said.

Once he got down to work, the book took about a year to complete. Then Swope took his manuscript to a local printer to have it bound.

It was less expensive for the printer to create a small quantity of books rather than compile a bound collection of Swope's work, so he went ahead and had some printed. Eventually, Swope hopes to have the book, "LEGACIES: Stories from the Second World War," officially published.

"I'm looking for more places to put it. In fact I'm also looking for ... a publisher to really distribute this," he said. Swope has found his work with veterans more than worthwhile and encourages others to listen to what veterans have to say as well.

"World War II veterans, you can't wait. When I started they were late 70s, early 80s. They're all probably in their late 80s right now," he said, emphasizing how little time remains to record these stories before they are lost.

"Some guys are really hesitant about doing these sorts of things," he said, "but I'll sit down and after we get into the conversation it's like we've known each other for years. ... They just start opening up to me, and I've had so many emotional moments with a guy I just met a half-hour ago."

For now, the book may be purchased for $20 Stewart's Hobbies and Collectors' Toys at 38033 Euclid Ave. in Willoughby or through Swope himself.

Along with the book, customers also will receive a CD of Swope's radio show. He can be reached at 440-255-7410 or swopetunes@juno.com.